BEIING: At least 50 people were wounded on Wednesday by a huge explosion of inflammable material stored in a warehouse in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, state media reported.

The official Xinhua news agency said the blast happened at around 11:30 pm (1630 GMT), when a deafening bang was heard and plumes of flame lit up the night sky, scattering dust dozens of metres into the air.

Videos posted on Weibo, a Chinese social network, showed a fireball shooting into the air and at least two separate explosions. Xinhua said shockwaves from the blast could be felt several kilometres (miles) away.

Photos posted on Weibo showed people in the street apparently covered in blood, but the veracity of the pictures could not immediately be confirmed.